Posted by John Allen Small on Thursday, December 20, 2012 Under: Opinion

“I suppose you’ll be writing about that horrible school shooting just like everybody else,” my old friend Julian Frye commented when I ran into him unexpectedly during a trip to the store last Saturday.

I responded with a gloomy shrug of my shoulders. “To be honest, I really haven’t decided yet,” I said. “I mean, yeah, definitely feel like I should say something, even if it turns out to be nothing more than a catharsis for my own sorrow and anger and frustration. But nothing that has come to mind so far seems adequate to address the enormity of this tragedy. All those years of communications classes and I just can’t seem to find the words.

“Besides, every time I do try to express my thoughts or feelings after some terrible event like this has taken place, the only thing that it seems to accomplish is to draw people out of the woodwork who act like they’ve really been itching to have an argument with me. I still remember the hate mail I got back a decade ago after I devoted a column to talking about my two sons’ reaction to the 9-11 terrorist attacks. After all these years that STILL doesn’t make any sense to me; I just don’t think I have it in me to willingly put myself in that position anymore.”

A slight “harumph” sounded in Julian’s throat – that expression of disapproval that those of us who know and love him have become so familiar with over the years. “Never thought I’d see the day when you would actually back away from a good debate,” he told me.

“Yeah, well, world-weariness will do that to a fellow,” I responded. “Besides, I’ve found that it’s hard to debate when you’re not all that certain which side of the issue you’re actually on.”

That seemed to pique his interest. “Please explain,” he said.

I paused for a moment, trying to put my thoughts into terms that even I could understand. “I sit back and listen to the calls for increased gun control, and I can’t help agreeing with them,” I told him. “I’ve said many times – and it’s the God’s honest truth – that I am NOT anti-gun. My father had guns in the house when we were growing up, and he made sure he taught me and my younger brothers how to use them and how to respect them. I have not once ever in my life said or even thought that guns should be outlawed.

“I am, however, anti-stupid. And I truly believe that allowing certain kinds of guns to be readily available to anyone other than military or law enforcement personnel. is just that – stupid. I don’t understand the fascination in weapons that can not only bring down a deer but also grind it up for you. I also don’t understand why there should be such resistance to the idea of stricter requirements for gun owners. The same people who argued so passionately in favor of requiring that people take drug tests before being approved as food stamp recipients cry ‘Foul!’ whenever someone suggests that people be required to undergo some kind of psychological testing before being allowed to own a gun.”

“Those are valid points,” Julian agreed. “The idea of requiring such testing – along with proper safety training and periodic reevaluation, and perhaps even mandatory liability insurance just like car owners are required to have – doesn’t seem unreasonable. And it certainly doesn’t seem to represent any kind of legitimate threat to the right to participate in a well regulated militia under our Constitution. So what’s the problem?”

“The problem,” I answered, “is that the gun advocates do have at least one equally valid point. Stricter laws aren’t going to keep the guns out of the hands of the criminals any more than Prohibition put an end to the sale or consumption of alcohol. At the same time, though, I don’t subscribe to the idea that arming more people is going to curtail gun violence; I can’t quite shake the thought of the additional carnage that might have ensued at that movie theatre in Colorado if 50 or 100 people had started shooting back willy-nilly inside such a small, confined, darkened space.”

Julian nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “That’s a good point, too.”

I let out a bit of a sigh. “You’re not helping.”

A look of faux surprise crossed his features. “I’m sorry, were you looking for easy answers?” he asked. “I’ve got a news flash for you, buddy: There aren’t any. I certainly don’t know the answer; I’m not even sure I know all the questions. If I did I’d be running the show and a LOT of things would be different in this ol’ universe. Near as I can tell, the only thing we can do is hope that men and women of good conscience on both sides of the issue will discuss and debate and find some workable middle ground.”

“And if they can’t?”

He paused a moment before answering. “If they can’t,” he said glumly, “then at some point I guess it probably won’t matter anymore. Merry Christmas, by the way...”

About Me

John Allen Small

Tishomingo, Oklahoma

John A. Small is an award-winning newspaper journalist, columnist and broadcaster whose work has been honored by the Oklahoma Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, the National Newspaper Association, and the Oklahoma Education Association. He and his wife Melissa were married in 1986; they have two sons, Joshua Orrin (born 1991) and William Ian (born 1996).
Mr. Small is the News Editor and columnist for the Johnston County Capital-Democrat, a weekly newspaper headquartered in Tishomingo, OK. He obtained his nickname, "Bard of the Lesser Boulevards," from a journalism colleague - the late Phil Byrum - in recognition of the success of his popular newspaper column, "Small Talk." (In addition to the many awards the column itself has received over the years, a radio version of "Small Talk" earned an award for "Best Small Market Commentary" from the Society of Professional Journalists in 1998.)
John was born in Oklahoma City in 1963; lived in the Bradley-Bourbonnais-Kankakee area of Illinois for most of the next 28 years (with brief sojourns in Texas and Athens, Greece, thrown in to break up the monotony); then returned to his native state in 1991, where he currently resides in the Tishomingo/Ravia area. He graduated from Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School in 1981, and received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais in 1991. The years between high school and college were a period frought with numerous exploits and misadventures, some of which have become the stuff of legend; nobody was hurt along the way, however, which should count for something.
In addition to his professional career as a journalist he has published two short story collections: "Days Gone By: Legends And Tales Of Sipokni West" (2007), a collection of western stories; and "Something In The Air" (2011), a more eclectic collection. He was also a contributor to the 2005 Locus Award-nominated science fiction anthology "Myths For The Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe," edited by Win Scott Eckert. In additon he has written a stage play and a self-published cookbook; served as project editor for a book about the JFK assassination entitled "The Men On The Sixth Floor"; and has either published or posted on the Internet a number of essays, stories and poems.
He has also won writing awards from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the National Library of Poetry. He is a past president of the Johnston County Chamber of Commerce in Tishomingo; was a charter member and past president of the Johnston County Reading Council, the local literacy advocacy and "friends of the library" organization; served as Johnston County's first-ever Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in 1994-95; served two terms as chairman of the Johnston County (OK) Democratic Party; and has taught journalism classes for local Boy Scout Merit Badge Fairs. He is a member of the New Wold Newton Meteorics Society.